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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Air travel in Japan was disrupted today as pilots and cabin crew at All Nippon Airways (ANA) staged a 24-hour strike. Due to the strike, 137 domestic flights were said to have been canceled, and another 30 were delayed. No international flights were disrupted.

The Tokyo-based airline plans to cut 14 billion yen ($142 million) in labor costs in the fiscal year starting next month by slashing salaries and bonuses as passenger numbers slump. ANA has agreed to cut salaries of regular managers by 5 percent and was in negotiation with unions on pay adjustments for regular employees.

The four unions that are striking say that a difference between wages at ANA’s main airline and its subsidiaries will widen if it doesn’t take action, according to a statement dated March 15 on the Web site of Air Nippon Network Pilot Union.

The Mainichi Daily Newsadds that this is the first strike affecting ANA's domestic flights since April 2007.